FURNITURE

This is a new kind of flat-pack furniture. There are no Allen keys, no screws, no scratching your head over Ikea-style instructions. Instead, Noumenon designer Carl de Smet's Memories of the Future furniture just needs a little loving warmth.

It's made from shape memory polyurethane (SMP), a material invented by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry that expands when heated. This allows de Smet to manufacture the chair and squash it down to 5 percent of its size for packing and shipping. When the owner gets it home, it blows up like a balloon with the application of a little heat. … Read more

I bought a BDI stand for my TV 10 years ago, and it still looks great. That says a lot about BDI's quality -- I'm constantly swapping out gear, and the stand is good as new. They no longer make the mostly glass unit I own, but their range of new models is huge.

Most of BDI's current designs feature medium-density fiberboard (MDF) construction, with gorgeous, real hardwood veneers. MDF is better than solid wood in these types of cabinets, real wood shelves bow or warp when heavy gear is placed on them for long periods of … Read more

Salamander Designs offers a vast range of quality audio-video entertainment furniture, and has recently expanded its Chameleon Collection of corner-style and extrawide cabinets.

Salamander's four-door Quad cabinets are designed to accommodate today's large flat-panel TVs, both visually and structurally. New product offerings include contemporary and traditional styles.

The corner cabinets are available in nine different styles, including 20-inch- and 30-inch-high versions and a 30-inch-high version with grillework designed to conceal a center-channel speaker. Salamander AV cabinets are available in a vast array of woods and configurations. The cabinets are built with premium-grade materials and construction techniques. Salamander's … Read more

The world needs more luxurious gaming furniture and less of those gaudy leather gamer chairs with built-in speakers.

Gaming decor goes to the next level with this coffee table that actually works as a fully functional Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) controller. Talented woodworker Charles Lushear sells the massive controller table on Etsy for $3,500 (plus shipping). The exotic item's 42 inches long, 18.25 inches wide, and 18 inches high, and you might want to seek permission from your significant other before purchasing it. … Read more

Forget any other uses for LEDs; the only place they really need to be is in the bar.

LEDs are everywhere. They are used in everything from remote controls to giant wall displays and televisions. The little lights are a ubiquitous part of everyday life: signs tell us where to go, clocks tell us what time it is, control panels let us know the state of our devices. Lately, they have been showing up in everything from DLP projectors to streetlights.

The first LEDs in practical use had very little light output and would be often found in alphanumerical displays … Read more

A party on the patio is just not complete without a few pieces of furniture. Or at least one that tries harder.

Patio furniture is what you make of it. The rules of etiquette that we adhere to while dining inside do not always apply when eating out of doors. The relaxed atmosphere of the backyard enables us to kick back, put our feet up, and use tables as chairs and vice versa. Sometimes, the furniture can even bend to our wishes.

The Outdoor Convertible Coffee to Dining Table, from Hammacher Schlemmer, transforms the outdoor dining space--literally. Featuring four hinged … Read more

Woodworker Barry Shields' impressive Star Trek coffee table creation proves yet again that Trekkies are nothing if not, uh... Enterprising. Sorry.

Terrible puns aside, there's no need to apologize for this one-of-a-kind living room conversation piece. It took two attempts for Shields to get it just the way he wanted, with the glass cut in such a way to make the ship appear to be in motion.

You'll find it for sale on Etsy for $3,100--a real deal when you consider how many galaxies this genuine starship has visited and how deliciously geeky it would be to … Read more

Gathering around the outdoor grill is a time-honored tradition that occurs during warm-weather (and sometimes not-so-warm) months. As with every tradition, certain customs are upheld--whether intentional or not. Most grill sessions look remarkably similar: guests standing around a grill edging for position or trenched into lawn chairs that inhibit access to the grill surface.

Not all stationary-friendly grills are of the low-to-the-ground variety. A comfortable variation on the theme is the Snow Peak Garden Dining Table. Offering seating for four, the picnic table combines an outdoor grill directly into its structure. It features a center cutout (additional leafs can be … Read more

Nostalgia can be a powerful thing, and few things quite pluck at the heartstrings like the compact cassette--if you were born before the 1990s, of course. For those who like collecting bits of tech history, this novel idea for a chair would fit right into the collection.

A designer from quirky design house OOO My Design took a simple wooden chair frame, patiently fastened a bunch of old cassettes to it, and aptly named it the Nostalgic Chair. To top that off, she attached an actual Sony Walkman and a pair of headphones for the ultimate blast from the past.

Though we wouldn't recommend buying this chair for sitting, this piece of retro art can be yours for a relatively reasonable 140 euros ($198). … Read more